1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, generally, to network gaming and more particularly to a system and method for the recording and playback of game data generated in a network community comprising participants and spectators, wherein the recording and playback of game data may include a visual display of game controller manipulation.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, users of electronic games compete with one another by selecting a two-player option associated with a particular electronic game via a single home gaming console. Accordingly, two players can play at the same time or one-at-a-time in order to compete for points or other awards associated with the particular electronic game.
As electronic game consoles have become more popular and network technologies have become more pervasive, more options for head-to-head competition have entered the marketplace. Some electronic game consoles are equipped with modems or other network connectors allowing users to communicate over a network through the exchange of data related to the game. By communicating over a network, users (e.g., participants) can connect to various other users' gaming consoles either directly or via intermediate computing nodes (e.g., a central server or other game consoles in a network) and compete against those various other users while playing a network game.
Users who compete over a network are unable to record their game play for later review. For example, a user may wish to review a section of their completed game to find a way around obstacles or to learn a competitor's strategy. Additionally, a user may want to record and display a section of the game to various other participants or spectators where the user performed particularly well.
Offering recording and playback functionality may be particularly relevant with respect to the increased complexity of some video games. As game characters and other player controller objects have become capable of executing more maneuvers, game controllers have incorporated more control options (e.g., multiple joysticks, Z-triggers, shoulder-triggers, motion tracking along X-, Y-, and Z-axes, and the like). The use of the various control options—alone, in combination, and sometimes in particular sequences—has increased the complexity of executing certain tasks in particular games or in particular environments within a game. Correspondingly, it may be helpful for some users to have increased knowledge of how a particular task or maneuver was executed with respect to the various control options on a game controller.
Additionally, users who are not playing a particular game may desire to watch a game being played by other players as a spectator. For example, players who belong to a game clan may want to watch fellow members of their clan play against other game clans. Alternatively, users who are unfamiliar with video games or with a particular video game may watch a game without participating before purchasing a game console or the particular game, or entering the game environment. For example, parents may watch a game as spectators to determine whether the game is appropriate for their children prior to purchasing the game.
Furthermore, a user is not presently able to control playback of a game. For example, a spectator may miss a portion of a game if he needs to leave the display for a short period of time. Additionally, the user cannot rewind or fast forward through portions of the game. Spectators may, therefore, lose interest in watching the game and may decide not to purchase the game or otherwise become involved in the game community. As such, there is a need for game developers and network service providers to provide users the ability to record game data for later viewing and to provide playback controls for the same.